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Is it possible to adapt TOG to be secular?


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I am trying to figure what we are going to use after we finish SOTW 4. I will have 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders. I do best when things are laid out or it is do the next thing. I would really like to make a second pass at SOTW with the younger two and have the older one do a program that ties in with SOTW. I know that TOG uses SOTW for upper grammar so it might work. However, how secular it the program?

 

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Your students will be reading many books without a reformed Christian POV, but their weekly questions will have questions that assume God's omniscience and of course the teacher's notes will include commentary that offers scripture and discussion scripts that ask questions from a Christian POV. Have you tried to download one of the free samples? I recommend Year 2:

Sail to the New World

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You might want to look at A Message of Ancient Days. I haven't used this yet but it was recommended by several on these boards. It is a school text intended for 6th grade. You can view samples of it in Calvert's online catalog under 6th grade. I was able to find one for $6 shipped on ebay and I'm waiting for it to come. My plan is to either combine it with History Odyssey or just add living books to it.

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Have you tried the sample units from TOG? I would suggest that you Check out the books from the library, print out the samples and examine it closely. I have heard many times that it would be difficult if not impossible to use it in a secular manner but I just loved that the it was multi-level and had all of the background information for the teacher all nicely in there for me with books for the kids scheduled along with discussion and accountability and writing assignments and crafts.

 

I ordered unit 1 of year 2 for next year and couldn't be more pleased. I have chosen to skip some of the books, but there are alternates suggested for just about everything. The rhetoric level has much more comparison to the Bible for each topic than the lower levels do. I am now looking forward to using TOG for many years to come. The first year looks like it would be much more difficult to adapt, but there are many parts of at least three of the four units that could be used in a secular way. For me, the benefits and the richness outweigh the trouble of filtering.

 

My TOG unit is now in binders, and page protectors with notes and tabs and lists. I have read it completely through once already and I just got it this week. I love it. I am thinking of starting it in April or May so that my kids can be most of the way finished with it by the time the Ren. Festival starts this summer.

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I just recently received all 4 years of TOG classic from a friend. I, too, was worried about using it secularly, but I'm so pleasantly surprised that it looks like it will be a perfect fit. I'll need to edit a few things, rephrase certain questions and omit certain readings, but really, it looks like it will be perfect. I do similar with Apologia Zoology 2, so its not unfamiliar territory.

 

HTH,

Cynthia

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